Root out of World Cup as England prepare for second T20 warm-up

England prepare for the second Twenty20 fixture against the West Indies on the back of their 27-run loss at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, but have been dealt with a double injury blow to Jose Root and Stuart Broad ahead of the World Cup. Back Ashley Giles’ men at 6/5 to level the series.

Both teams battle it out once more in the three-match head-to-head, but the visitors will have to make do without captain Broad for the final two games, who has aggravated a recurring knee problem.

The 27-year-old has, however, stated he should be fit for the World Twenty20 opener against New Zealand on March 22nd, where England are fourth-favourites at 4/1 to top their group, and 14/1 to win the competition. The West Indies are priced at 6/1.

“(The knee is) okay, I’ve had knee patellar tendonitis for a while now, throughout the winter, with the workload,” Broad said. “It just gets a bit stiffer and stiffer, and I caught my knee in the ground in Antigua during the last one-dayer, and it just swelled up.

“I struggled to move it a little bit so I won’t be playing the next two Twenty20s. I’ll have a bit of treatment, definitely get an injection in to make sure it’s okay for the World Cup. I should be okay, assuming the injection works, which generally they do.”

New England star Joe Root, who was already ruled out of the Barbados Twenty20 series, has now been given the dreaded news that he will miss the whole of the upcoming World Cup. The Yorkshireman broke his thumb on the way to scoring a century in the recent ODI series against the Windies.

The first match of this series saw just two England batsmen make a notable score, with all-rounders Ravi Bopara (42) and Tim Bresnan (47) helping their team end up on 143 for 9 as they attempted to chase down the host’s 170 – with a loss of just three wickets. Back Bresnan at 33/1 to top score for his team again, while Bopara has odds of 8/1.

Marlon Samuels produced the magic for the West Indies, smashing 69 off just 46 balls, as he complimented Chris Gayle’s 43 from 35. They can both be backed at 5/1 and 9/4 respectively to be the Windies’ top scorer.

England’s lack of spin in the lineup cost them, and does not bode well for the World Cup in Bangladesh with pitches heavily suited to those conditions.

The pitch is very much likely to favour whoever bats first in this match, so be sure to get a bid in as soon as the toss is made.

A fun bet to make would be to put your money on the team with the most sixes. It’s hard to look past the West Indies (odds-on at 4/7), as they managed five to England’s two. The latter are priced at 2/1.